By Dmitry Medvedev
Financial Times, 27/08/08
On Tuesday Russia recognised the independence of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It was not a step taken lightly, or without full consideration of the consequences. But all possible outcomes had to be weighed against a sober understanding of the situation-the histories of the Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples, their freely expressed desire for independence, the tragic events of the past weeks and international precedents for such a move.
CHAPTER 16
The Spoils of War: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade
Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the Golden Crescent opium trade has soared. According to the US media, this lucrative contraband is pro-tected by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, as well as, of course, the regional warlords, in defiance of the “international commu-nity”. The heroin business is said to be “filling the coffers of the Taliban”. In the words of the US State Department: Continue reading ‘America’s War on Terrorism: The Spoils of War: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade’
By Mikhail Gorbachev
New York Times, 20/08/08
(Mikhail Gorbachev is the former president of the Soviet Union. This article was translated by Pavel Palazhchenko from the Russian.)
The acute phase of the crisis provoked by the Georgian forces’ assault on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, is now behind us. But how can one erase from memory the horrifying scenes of the nighttime rocket attack on a peaceful town, the razing of entire city blocks, the deaths of people taking cover in basements, the destruction of ancient monuments and ancestral graves?
Part 4: The New World Order
Chapter 15
War Criminals in High Office
Under the Bush administration, torture has become an official US Government policy. The orders to torture POWs in Iraq and Guantanamo emanated from the highest governmental levels. Prison guards, interrogators in the US military and the CIA were responding to precise guidelines.
The President directly authorized the use of torture including “sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc.”(1)
Continue reading ‘America’s War on Terrorism: War Criminals in High Office’
By Mikhail Gorbachev
Washington Post, 12/08/08
The writer was the last president of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 and is president of the Gorbachev Foundation, a Moscow think tank. A version of this article, in Russian, will be published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper tomorrow.
MOSCOW – The past week’s events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.
By Mikheil Saakashvili
Wall Street Journal, 11/08/08
Mikheil Saakashvili is president of Georgia
As I write, Russia is waging war on my country.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 14
The Deportation of Civilians to the Guantanamo Concentration Camp
by Leuren Moret
In November 2001, during the Holy Month of Ramadan, a contingent of ten missionary members from Pakistan made a Tableegh Dora, routine preaching visit to the Northern Afghanistan Province of Kunduz. Among them was Mr. Sagheer, 54, a religious man from Phattan, a town in Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan, who had traveled as a preacher on other Tableegh (preaching missions). During this visit he was swept up and arrested with thousands of others by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, the area Northern Alliance commander, “on the instructions and orders of the US Government/Army…in a hunt against Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and [Taliban leader] Mullah Umer”.(1)
Mr. Sagheer was transported from Kunduz by truck with other prisoners in containers where many died, some who were injured were buried alive, others held in jails in Afghanistan, and finally he was transported by the US military to Guantanamo Bay.(2) There he was held like other prisoners in small cages, subjected to torture, humiliation, violation of religious prohibitions, denied legal rights, beaten and interrogated at Camp Delta.
Continue reading ‘The Deportation of Civilians to the Guantanamo Concentration Camp’
Chapter 14
Protecting Al Qaeda Fighters in the War Theater
In late November 2001, the Northern Alliance, supported by US bombing raids, took the hill town of Kunduz in Northern Afghanistan. Eight thousand or more men “had been trapped inside the city in the last days of the siege, roughly half of whom were Pakistanis. Afghans, Uzbeks, Chechens, and various Arab merce-naries accounted for the rest.”(1)
Also among these fighters, were several senior Pakistani military and intelligence officers, who had been dispatched to the war theater by the Pakistani military.
Continue reading ‘America’s War on Terrorism: Protecting Al Qaeda Fighters in the War Theater’
Chapter 13
Providing a Face to the Enemy: Who is Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi?
The “war on terrorism” requires a humanitarian mandate. It is presented as a “Just War” to be fought on moral grounds “to redress a wrong suffered”.
The Just War theory defines “good” and “evil”. It concretely portrays and personifies the terrorist leaders as “evil individuals”.
Continue reading ‘America’s War on Terrorism: Providing a Face to the Enemy: Who is Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi?’
Chapter 12
9/11 and the Iran-Contra Scandal
The Bush administration accuses people of having links to Al Qaeda. This is the national security doctrine behind the anti-terrorist legislation and Homeland Security. It is not only part of the Administration’s disinformation campaign, it is also used to arrest thousands of people on trumped up charges.
Ironically, several key members of the Bush Administration who were the architects of the anti-terrorist agenda, played a key role in supporting and financing Al Qaeda.
Continue reading ‘America’s War on Terrorism: 9/11 and the Iran-Contra Scandal’
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